DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
It’s great to have the Prime Minister back in the Kybong Hall. Now, it might surprise visitors to know that this little country hall has actually had Tony Abbott’s presence once previously in 2013. It was a rainy day that day and we needed the shelter of the hall. Today is a beautiful Queensland day and it is great to welcome Tony Abbott back, this time as Prime Minister. But, again, to talk about the Bruce Highway and the progress that's being made on the rebuilding of this vital Queensland road link and, in particular, a project in this area which is near and dear to the hearts of people of Gympie and district.
The Federal Government has committed $6.7 billion to upgrade the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns. We had signed with the previous government an arrangement where they would contribute $1.8 billion to this project on an 80-20 split for major works for four-laning larger sections of the highway, endeavouring to flood-proof the road as much as possible by replacing low-level bridges with higher structures and particularly placing an emphasis on safety measures to improve intersections, build passing lanes and the like.
I'm delighted that the incoming Queensland Government has indicated its willingness to honour that agreement with the Commonwealth and that these road projects will proceed. It will make a huge difference to Queensland. This vital network being open, except in the most extreme of flooding situations, will make a difference to commerce, it will save hundreds of millions of dollars in lost income and, of course, in regular repair and maintenance work that has to be done when weather conditions interrupt the flow of traffic on the road.
So, as a local member and as Minister for Infrastructure, I am especially pleased to see the work that's underway – the continuous work – that's under way on this road. You don't travel too far on the Bruce Highway over the last few years without construction underway and that is a commitment to maintain that construction that we are making also into the future.
So, Tony, welcome to Wide Bay. Welcome back to Kybong Hall and to the Gympie district and can I now invite you to make a couple of comments and announcements about the road projects that are envisaged in this area.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks so much Warren. It is terrific to be with the Deputy Prime Minister. It is good to be here with the Queensland Roads Minister at the Kybong Hall. And yes, as Warren said, this is my second visit to the Kybong Hall. I’m really pleased to be here in Government to let the people of Queensland and Australia know that the commitments we made in Opposition we are delivering in Government.
We said we'd build the Bruce in Opposition and we are building the Bruce in Government. It's so important that we do get on and rebuild the Bruce because this is the vital artery of Queensland; it's the lifeline of Queensland. If the Bruce Highway goes out, half of Queensland is cut off. That's why it's very important that we upgrade this road, bring it into the 21st Century as quickly as possible and today I announce that we are calling for tenders for early works on this section of the Bruce Highway upgrade. Ultimately this will be a half a billion dollar commitment to this section of the Bruce, the Cooroy to Curra Section C of the Bruce upgrade. It is part of the $6.7 billion Commonwealth commitment to the Bruce Highway.
So, I'm really pleased to be here as the Infrastructure Prime Minister with my Infrastructure Deputy Prime Minister and the Queensland Minister to announce this commitment to the Bruce Highway. Better roads mean more jobs; better roads mean better business; better roads mean safer families. That's why this commitment to the Bruce Highway is an important part of building a better and stronger and safer Australia. I'm very committed to it. I'm very pleased to be here today to announce this further milestone and the upgrade of the Bruce Highway and I’m pleased to be in the presence of the local state member and Queensland state minister.
So, Mark, you might like to add to these observations.
MARK BAILEY:
Thank you Prime Minister. It is a great pleasure to join with the Commonwealth here today; the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and local state member for the commencement of early works, the tender process for early works, on this third stage of the Bruce Highway upgrade from Cooroy to Curra.
This stage is about getting early wins on road safety. There is nothing more important than road safety. Right near this hall, we have had three fatalities, 17 accidents and what we’re doing at a state level is we are separating this section of road, the opposing traffic in the short-term so we can get quick road safety wins in preparation for the realignment of this section – the third section – of the Bruce Highway upgraded here to start early next year.
We are very concerned about road safety in Queensland. We had a horror Easter weekend toll which is unacceptable. We are having a forum of road safety specialists and stakeholders on Friday to look at what we can do to improve road safety in Queensland so that we never have an Easter road toll like we saw recently.
But can I say that this project is all about not just jobs and not just a better highway system, it is about road safety and we will see a much better scenario and climate for motorists because of this section. The state government is putting in $125 million into this section as part of our commitment to nearly $2 billion in upgrading the Bruce between Rockhampton and Brisbane and we absolutely welcome working with the Commonwealth to have a better highway system to create jobs and get on with the job and to improve road safety.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Mark. Do we have any questions that people would like to ask?
QUESTION:
[inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I might ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure to elaborate and the local member.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
Section C will commence on the southern end where Section B has ended – the Traveston intersection – and will proceed towards Gympie. It doesn't get quite the way to Gympie, about 1.8km short of Gympie.
QUESTION:
[inaudible]
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
Right. Well, the four-laning will come to 1.8km south of Gympie. There, Section D will complete the task of building a four-lane road all the way from Cooroy to Curra. So, there’ll be one more section after this Section C is complete, which will be the Gympie city bypass. The preliminary road works that Mark has just spoken about will provide immediate safety benefits but it will be the permanent exit – southern exit – into Gympie from the Bruce Highway. So, it is a part of this project, part of the $625 million that between us we are committed to build this four-laning. The design work is in an advanced stage for that Section C with the intention of work starting early next year.
QUESTION:
[inaudible]
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
There have been a very large number of fatalities over a long period of time on the Cooroy to Curra stretch, running into many dozens. Section B got rid of some of the worst of those accident spots and what we are doing in Section A now, which is only a few months away from completion, that will make a difference there as well in eliminating accident spots. But this section – Section C – has also been the site of many fatal accidents and the particular task that we are setting about today was the site of two or three fatal accidents in the space of just a few weeks. So, that drew particular attention to the need for urgent action and there has been great cooperation from the landholders, particularly the Golden Nugget service station which has been the site where a lot of the accidents have occurred and there'll be substantial modifications to the way in which exit and entry occurs into that service station and that's all been agreed between the landholders and the community. So, it's been an excellent example of community cooperation now linked with Government funding to make this project happen.
QUESTION:
Are you concerned Gympie will be cut off? [inaudible]
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
Well, this particular section will not reduce the traffic going through Gympie but obviously Section D will be a bypass of the city. But I think most people in the city are looking forward to a more peaceful environment which is not cluttered up by trucks just speeding through town. Very few of those heavy transports actually stop in the city and frankly, because the road is so busy, it is not a welcome sign also for tourists. Because of the pressure on the highway, they tend to drive through rather than stop. So, once the road is completed, there will be exits into Gympie which will be clearly marked. It will still be an important tourist city but it will be a much more pleasant place to have a cup of coffee on the footpath or to enjoy the scenic attractions of the region because you won't be being run down by trucks every couple of minutes.
QUESTION:
Do you have any idea of when Section C is going to be completed?
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Section C is scheduled to start at the beginning of next year. It will probably take a year and a half to two years to complete. Then we hope to be in a position, once that section is completed, to move on to Section D.
QUESTION:
My question is for the Prime Minister, you talk about cooperation between Commonwealth and state governments. But at the moment you’ve got the WA Treasurer threatening to not work with the Commonwealth if they don’t get a bigger slice of the GST pie.
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, the Treasurer of the Commonwealth and state and territory treasurers are meeting in Canberra today to talk about a range of issues and obviously this is a subject which is likely to come up. The important thing to remember is that the GST is a tax that is raised for the states to be spent by the states and there can be no change to the GST unless all the states agree. And that basically means a bipartisan consensus for Labor state governments, the Labor Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament, to agree if there is to be any change. So, I look forward to the discussions that the Treasurer is chairing today but, in the end, this is a matter for the states to decide and, if Western Australia is unhappy with the carve-up, they've got the opportunity today to talk to the other states and territories and to come to an arrangement which better suits them all.
QUESTION:
Is the Federal Government giving in to WA’s demands because of poor polling in the West?
PRIME MINISTER:
As I said, the GST is a tax that's raised for the states to be spent by the states and it really is a matter for the states to decide amongst themselves.
QUESTION:
Do you think WA should get more because they’re losing revenue from iron ore prices?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can understand why WA are feeling pretty squeezed at the moment because obviously the iron ore price has reduced dramatically and that has a big impact on the West Australian budget. It also has quite a big impact on the Commonwealth budget and one of the reasons why we are so determined to get spending under control is because we do live in an uncertain world and that's why it's absolutely essential that we are serious about budget responsibility. We've got to get a stronger budget if we are to build a stronger economy and getting a stronger budget means getting spending under reasonable control. What this Commonwealth Government wants to do is to spend less, if you like, on short-term consumption and more on long-term investment such as the Bruce Highway and the Pacific Highway and the various works that we've committed to in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and elsewhere. This is about an investment in our long-term economic future.
QUESTION:
Every Budget has a vision. What is the vision then? Did you sort of touch on it then for this year’s Budget?
PRIME MINISTER:
It's good you asked me about that because our vision is jobs, growth and opportunity. That's why we want to try to ensure that spending programmes are sustainable over the long-term and we are spending more on things that will boost our fundamental economic strength like the Bruce Highway here today. That's why what we are doing today is absolutely consistent with the budget strategy that this Government has consistently followed since the day we were elected in September of 2013.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, you announced the Ice Taskforce yesterday. Do you think we need a broader [inaudible] inquiry into the alleged use of ice in the Navy in WA? And in particular the claim that suggested they were getting the drug in Asia and bringing it back on Navy ships.
PRIME MINISTER:
The fact that we have an ice problem, it seems, even in our armed forces, shows just how insidious the ice epidemic has become and just how important it is for every level of government right around Australia to be taking the ice scourge seriously. The point I made yesterday and I will be making every day at every appropriate opportunity is that this is the most dangerous illegal drug we have ever seen. It's more addictive than heroin. It damages you more than heroin. It is linked to extreme violence, to very serious mental health illnesses and it's linked even to physical disfigurement. That's the scourge that ice is. One of the things that you'll see coming from the Commonwealth in the weeks and months ahead is a new public awareness campaign because the young people of Australia need to know just what horrific damage this drug can do to you. They need to know that this drug can leave you disfigured for life, absolutely horribly disfigured. I don't want our beautiful young people to be horribly disfigured by this awful, evil drug. That's why it's important that at every level we take this menace seriously.
QUESTION:
You said you can see why WA is feeling squeezed. Do you agree that there is inequality in the current GST funding?
PRIME MINISTER:
If you look at what's been happening to the distribution of the GST between the states over the last few years, the share of GST going back to Western Australia has been going down, down and down under the Commonwealth Grants Commission funding formula. Just now, a diminishing share of the GST is coupled with the shock of dramatically reducing iron ore royalties. So, I can fully understand Western Australia's problem but, again I stress the GST is a state tax. It's a tax that's raised for the states to be spent by the states and it is a matter for the states to address amongst themselves. If the states are not happy with the distribution formula, this is something that they need to be able to sit down and sort out amongst themselves like responsible adult governments.
QUESTION:
Will the Government raise the GST?
PRIME MINISTER:
Again the point I made at the beginning is that this is a tax which is raised for the states to be spent by the states and it can't be changed without the consent of all the states and territories and effectively that means without a consensus in the Parliament. If anyone wants to raise the GST, that's a subject they should be taking up with Mr Shorten in the first instance.
QUESTION:
You talked about being in a really tough budget situation, should we be cracking down on multinationals who are generating revenues in Australia and sending it offshore?
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I just make this overall point that this Government is on about tax which is lower, simpler and fairer. That's what we want. We want lower, simpler, fairer tax. Plainly every taxpayer should be paying what is legitimately owed by that taxpayer to the Commonwealth Government. Now, I think there are quite legitimate concerns that some companies, particularly multinational companies through the device of transfer pricing are minimising their tax in jurisdictions such as Australia and maximising it in other jurisdictions that have different tax laws and different tax rates. This is something that the Commonwealth has long been concerned about. It's something that this Government put front and centre of the G20 agenda in Brisbane last year. It is important that companies pay tax in the jurisdictions where they make their money – very important that companies pay tax in the countries where they make their money and we will have more to say about this in the Budget process this year.
QUESTION:
Why is your Government holding out on the Renewable Energy Target when even the Business Council of Australia is backing Labor’s latest offer?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is not the latest offer, this is the first offer and it is good that finally the Opposition in the Federal Parliament have actually come up with a position. The position of this Government is that we want to get power prices down and we want to protect jobs. That's what we want to do. We want to get power prices down, we want to protect jobs. This matter is being negotiated through my Ministers, it's in the very capable hundreds of Greg Hunt and Ian Macfarlane. I'm looking forward to the negotiations going on.
QUESTION:
Aren't you worried the delay will cost jobs within the renewable industry?
PRIME MINISTER:
I accept that this matter is going to have to be resolved. I absolutely accept that but it's important to get it right. You might remember that the Parliament committed on a bipartisan basis to a 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target. As things stand, we are headed for a 26 per cent Renewable Energy Target with the position that the Clean Energy Council put forward yesterday, it will still be over a 23 per cent Renewable Energy Target and the position that we all agreed upon some time ago was a 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target. So, we will keep talking. As I said, these discussions are in the very capable hands of Ministers Macfarlane and Hunt but the absolute commitment of this Government is to protect jobs and to keep power prices down. That's our absolute commitment.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, regarding the allegations the Government knew about sexual abuse on Nauru, what's the next step and are you open to considering a Royal Commission into what's going on?
PRIME MINISTER:
The important thing to remember here is that the best thing you can do is stop the boats. That's the best thing you can do. We had under the former government, we had almost a thousand illegal boats, we had over 50,000 illegal arrivals, we had well over a thousand drownings at sea. The most humane, the most compassionate, the most decent thing you can do is stop the boats and a very important part of stopping the boats, as both sides of the Parliament now accept, is offshore processing at Nauru and at Manus. So, that's exactly what's happening. That's what we'll be continuing. Obviously, the Nauru camp is under the control of Nauruan Government officials, just as the Manus camp is under the control of PNG Government officials. Yes, Australia has an important role to play but I'm confident that the Nauruan Government is doing its job. I'm confident that the PNG Government is doing its job but, above all else, I'm confident that this Government has largely stopped the boats. I'm also confident that only this Government can keep them stopped because any other government, I suspect, would quickly succumb to the cries of the human rights lawyers and others and what that would mean, very quickly, is that the people smugglers would be back in business, the boats would start again and the drownings would start again. I'm determined to make sure that that doesn't happen – full stop. My absolutely clear message to the people smugglers is we are more than a match for you. Our determination to save lives at sea is greater than your determination to profit from putting people's lives at risk.
Thank you.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Obviously, I will have more to say about Warren at a testimonial event later today but, look, it's a tremendous honour for me to serve with Warren Truss. Warren has been an outstanding contributor to the Parliament, to the National Party, to the LNP, to the Coalition and to our country as Deputy Prime Minister. I've often described myself as an Infrastructure Prime Minister and I can't think of a better person to have as my Infrastructure Deputy Prime Minister than Warren Truss.
Warren is passionate about building a better Queensland, about building a better Australia, about giving this country the infrastructure that it needs. That's not just regional infrastructure like the Bruce Highway and the Pacific Highway; it's metropolitan infrastructure like the Gateway upgrade in Brisbane, the Toowoomba Range Crossing that will do so much for Queensland, WestConnex and East West Link in Sydney and Melbourne and of course Sydney’s second airport or as I like to say, Western Sydney's first airport.
This is a Deputy Prime Minister who is not just celebrating a quarter century in the Parliament but is changing our country for the better. Shaping our future and the great thing about the vocation of politics is that you can make a difference – you can make a difference. Warren Truss has been making a difference now for 25 years in the national Parliament, prior to that for 14 years in local government. As well as being an extraordinarily effective Minister and leader, a more decent human being has not been in this Parliament; an honourable, an upright, an honest and straight contributor at all levels of public life.
That's what Warren Truss has been and I'm looking forward to your next quarter century.
[ends]